Conventionally a motor vehicle has an internal combustion engine, and a battery for starting the engine and powering electrical equipment of the vehicle. The vehicle may also be provided with one or more small auxiliary machines associated with the vehicle and separately mounted on the vehicle structure. Such machines typically operate intermittently on demand, or are otherwise not directly associated with normal operation of the vehicle engine.
Examples of auxiliary machines are electrically driven compressors/pumps (e.g. for air conditioning and air suspension systems), and brake modulators. These machines, whilst being small compared with the vehicle engine, can impart significant noise and vibration through the vehicle structure, which cannot sufficiently be attenuated in a cost-effective manner.
As a partial solution, the small machine(s) may be mounted resiliently in order to insulate the vehicle structure, and/or may be mounted to a very stiff portion of the vehicle structure so that the structure resists transmission of noise and vibration. These solutions are not particularly effective, and the latter can require additional material to strengthen a mounting region.
A combined battery for a vehicle is heavy, in the range 15-30 kg, and must be located about the vehicle in an accessible position. Typically the battery is placed in the under-bonnet area to ensure both easy access and short electrical connections to equipment with a high current demand.
The mounting location of the battery must be strong to support the weight of the battery, and if adjacent the front of the vehicle may necessitate additional reinforcement of the vehicle structure. A suitable battery clamp is required to firmly attach the battery to the vehicle, typically a fabricated steel component having screw attachments.
An object of this invention is to reduce such noise and vibration towards the point where it is no longer apparent to an occupant of the vehicle.